1. Field
The embodiments discussed herein relate, generally, to information searching, and more specifically, to a method for information searching employing human searchers belonging to affiliate groups.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an information searching system including human searchers or guides, such as described in application Ser. No. 11/336,928, entitled, “A Scalable Search System Using Human Searchers”, by Scott A. Jones, filed Jan. 23, 2006 incorporated by reference herein, the information searching may be divided according to keywords and/or categories. Such organization is often necessary due to the vast amount of information that can be searched to enable the information to be managed in an efficient manner. For example, a first information searcher may be responsible for performing any searching related to a first keyword, and a second information searcher may be responsible for performing any searching related to a second keyword.
Although organizing the searchers according to keywords and categories can allow them to become knowledgeable in searching information pertaining to the assigned keyword(s) or category(ies), the knowledge gained is often not enough to allow the searchers to become “expert” searchers, due to the vastness of the information pertaining to the category(ies) or keyword(s). For example, although the category “Basketball” can be viewed as a smaller subset of the information related to the category “Sports”, the subset category “Basketball” is, nevertheless, a relatively large field of search. The subset may include information related to “NCAA Basketball”, “NBA Basketball”, “CIAA Basketball”, and so forth.
Similarly, although the keyword, “NFL Football” can be considered a subset of the broader keyword “football”, the subset includes information related to NFL teams, NFL players, NFL history, NFL rules, and so forth. As a result of the vastness of the information included within a subset, a searcher can experience difficulty in becoming an “expert” in searching information related to a particular keyword, category, topic, etc. in addition, the nature of a group of searchers (e.g., Peyton Manning fans) might influence the result(s) which they obtain. An information seeker might request results produced by searcher(s) associated with such an affinity.
There is also the issue of a user (also referred to as an Infoseeker™) being connected with a searcher (also referred to as a guide) who is of a different demographic and/or world view. For example, a college-age female Infoseeker™ looking for information related to “Pink Floyd” might be connected to a 50-something male Infoseeker™ who has a significantly different worldview. Even though the information returned may be technically correct, the social aspect of a human-assisted search may not be fully leveraged. For this reason, it may be desirable to allow an information seeker to access searchers and/or search results which have been provided by a group of searchers that share a set of common characteristics. It may further be desirable to the affiliate group members to seek searches due to the nature of the characteristics which they share. For example a group of medical professionals who believe in ‘the right to choose’ may receive searches relating to women's health issues which would otherwise be sent to a general search.
In addition to the above-identified problem, although searchers may be assigned to particular keywords and categories, the searchers may not have a genuine interest in the topic for which they are registered to perform searches. A searcher may select a topic area due to a high frequency of queries by information seekers relating to that topic, due to increased earning opportunities. As a result, the searchers may not be as effective as they could be were they genuinely interested in the topic. In order to improve the relevant skills and share information regarding search resources and/or methods for obtaining information on a specialized area of interest it may be useful to build cooperative and/or competitive communities of searchers. Such affiliate groups could work as teams to produce a result for a search query and share in the compensation.
Further, in some instances, information seekers have a need and/or desire to obtain search results pertaining to sensitive information that may not be available in standard databases and systems to which the public has access. For example, an information seeker desiring to search information regarding an endangered species may require services of a searcher who has access and authorization to search restricted and/or proprietary information databases and systems to retrieve such information. Heretofore, information search systems did not employ human searchers having the required specialized knowledge, access to, and authorization to search such information.
Some existing information search networks may already exist, such as travel agents, librarians, medical professionals (e.g., phone a nurse), and others. Such organizations may have competencies and/or access to resources unavailable to the general public, but it is difficult for a conventional search system employing automated search techniques to provide access to and indexing of resources provided by such an affiliate network.
For these many reasons a method for enabling affiliate group searching using human searchers in which access control may be exercised for information seekers and/or human searchers seeking access to such search services would be greatly appreciated.